---
title: 'Junior Test Engineer (VOR) at Hatch IT'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/junior-test-engineer-vor-hatch-it-washington-pwgjq5mdq52n'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-10-15'
---

# Junior Test Engineer (VOR) at Hatch IT

- **Company:** Hatch IT
- **Location:** Washington, DC
- **Compensation:** $90k–$110k
- **Employment:** full-time
- **Work type:** hybrid
- **Posted:** 2026-10-14
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-10-15
- **Apply:** https://jobs.lever.co/hatchit/47acbed4-4c8f-4004-a838-12a1b1fe3adb

## Job description

hatch I.T. is partnering with Expression to find a Junior Test Engineer (VOR). See details below:

About The Role:

Expression is seeking a Junior Test Engineer to help improve the quality, reliability, and usability of VOR, their platform for connecting data, AI agents, and workflows to support complex operational needs.

You will work alongside developers, product owners, and experienced engineers to test web applications, APIs, data integrations, and AI-enabled workflows. You will help investigate unexpected behavior, identify gaps in the user experience, and build repeatable ways to verify that the product works.

They are looking for someone who asks good questions, enjoys figuring out how systems behave, and is eager to use AI and automation in their work. Test plans provide a starting point; curiosity and sound judgment help uncover the problems they miss. You do not need to arrive as an automation expert, but you should want to learn how to turn repetitive testing into reliable automated checks.

Location and Clearance:

- Clearance: Eligibility to obtain a clearance is required.
- Location: Hybrid or Remote. Our HQ is located at the heart of Washington, DC. If you are local you are welcome to use our office and all the perks that it offers.

About the Company:

Founded in 1997 and headquartered in Washington DC, Expression provides data fusion, data analytics, software engineering, information technology, and electromagnetic spectrum management solutions to the U.S. Department of Defense, Department of State, and national security community. Expression’s “Perpetual Innovation” culture focuses on creating immediate and sustainable value for their clients via agile delivery of tailored solutions built through constant engagement with their clients. Expression was ranked #1 on the Washington Technology 2018's Fast 50 list of fastest growing small business Government contractors and a Top 20 Big Data Solutions Provider by CIO Review.

Responsibilities:

- Test VOR’s web interfaces, APIs, and workflows, including how users connect data sources, configure tools and agents, and review workflow results.
- Explore real user scenarios, edge cases, and failure conditions to find issues beyond documented acceptance criteria.
- Work with developers and product owners to clarify expected behavior and identify quality risks early.
- Document defects with clear reproduction steps, expected and actual results, and useful evidence such as screenshots, logs, or API responses.
- Use approved AI tools to help explore test scenarios, generate test data, draft automation, and investigate failures. Review and verify their output.
- Build and maintain automated tests with guidance from experienced engineers, prioritizing repeatable checks that protect important user journeys.
- Help evaluate AI-enabled features for grounded responses, useful citations, appropriate tool behavior, and consistent handling of uncertainty.
- Test permissions, data boundaries, approval steps, and error recovery to help ensure workflows behave appropriately.
- Investigate failed tests, distinguish product defects from test or environment issues, and verify fixes.
- Contribute clear testing evidence and communicate remaining risks to support release decisions.

Qualifications:

- Bachelor's degree in computer science or related fields and 1 year of professional experience.
- 2+ years of foundational experience with software testing or development through employment, internships, coursework, or personal projects.
- Basic understanding of functional, regression, and exploratory testing.
- Ability to translate a user goal or requirement into meaningful test scenarios, including unexpected inputs and failure cases.
- Willingness to learn scripting and test automation using languages such as Python or JavaScript/TypeScript.
- Openness to using AI tools thoughtfully, checking their work, and improving your approach through experimentation.
- Strong analytical skills and the persistence to investigate an issue when the cause is unclear.
- Ability to explain findings clearly and collaborate constructively with others.

Preferred Qualifications:

- Exposure to browser automation tools such as Playwright, Cypress, or Selenium.
- Experience testing APIs with tools such as Postman, curl, or automated test frameworks.
- Familiarity with Git, CI/CD pipelines, and reading application logs.
- Basic knowledge of SQL, data validation, or testing data ingestion and retrieval.
- Experience using AI coding assistants or testing applications that incorporate language models.
- Exposure to containers, cloud environments, or enterprise software.
- Eligibility to obtain a U.S. security clearance.

## About Hatch IT

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: Hatch I.T. is a specialized tech recruiting partner that connects mission-driven startups with engineering, data, and product talent through flexible hiring models.
- **Entity Type**: Private (Bootstrapped)
- **Headquarters**: Tysons, Virginia, United States
- **Founded**: 2012
- **Founders**: Tim Winkler (Founder & CEO)

## Core Business
- Primary industry: Staffing and Recruiting, with a focus on technology roles for startups in defense, healthcare, AI, cybersecurity, and space.
- Target customers: B2B – early-stage and high-growth startups, especially those with a national security, healthcare, or dual-use mission.
- Mission or purpose statement: "Where talent meets mission" – connecting companies with skilled talent who are deeply aligned with the company’s mission and values.

## Products & Services
- **RPO / Embedded Recruiting**: Dedicated recruiters embedded in the client’s culture, managing full-cycle hiring from sourcing to onboarding.
- **Contingency Hiring**: Pay-only-when-you-hire model for hard-to-fill roles.
- **Contract-to-Hire**: Evaluate talent on the job before committing to a full-time hire.
- **Executive Search**: Finding leadership for mission-driven startups.
- **Scale**: Technical consulting and recruiting services for high-growth startups.
- **Stride**: Technical strategy and consulting for early-stage startups.
- **hatchpad**: An online community platform for startup technologists to network, learn, and advance their careers.

## Market Standing
- **Valuation**: Not publicly available (no disclosed funding rounds).
- **Key Metric**: 20 employees (down 12% YoY); 94% 1-year retention rate; 28 days average time to hire.
- **Notable Investors/Partners**: No external investors identified. Partners include startups across defense, healthcare, and cyber sectors.
- **Growth Signals**: Active hiring for 5+ roles (Senior Data Engineer, Senior Software Engineer, etc.) with a 25% monthly increase in job postings; expanding remote/hybrid options; offices in the US and distributed team across 6 countries.

## Competitive Advantages
- Specialized focus on mission-driven startups (defense, national security, healthcare, AI) – a niche that traditional staffing firms often overlook.
- Flexible pricing and engagement models (contingency, contract-to-hire, RPO) tailored to startup budgets.
- High retention rates (94%) and fast hiring cycles (28 days) demonstrate effective matching.
- Proprietary community (hatchpad) and content (The Hatch Pad newsletter) to attract and engage technologists.

## Strategic Focus
- Deepen partnerships within defense, healthcare, AI, and cybersecurity verticals.
- Scale the hatchpad community to become a go-to resource for startup technologists.
- Maintain a distributed remote/hybrid workforce to access talent globally while supporting clients primarily in the Washington D.C. metro area.

## Why Work Here
- **Culture**: Emphasis on mission alignment, relational (not transactional) approach, and collaborative small-team environment.
- **Work Policy**: Hybrid and remote roles available depending on position; some on-site roles in Washington, DC, Arlington, VA, Reston, VA, and Somerville, MA.
- **Perks & Engineering Culture**: Not extensively documented, but employee reviews on LinkedIn rate Work-Life, Compensation, and Culture all at 5.0/5.0 (3 reviews). The company invests in professional community through hatchpad.
- **Team**: Small (20–25 employees), with a high proportion of HR and recruiting specialists. Distributed across the US, South Africa, Canada, Romania, Bangladesh, and the Philippines.

## Sources
1. [hatchit.io](https://www.hatchit.io/)
2. [LinkedIn - hatch I.T.](https://www.linkedin.com/company/hatch-it)
3. [Built In - hatch I.T.](https://builtin.com/company/hatch-it)
4. [Lever careers page - Hatch IT](https://jobs.lever.co/hatchit)
5. [The Org - hatch IT](https://theorg.com/org/hatch-it)

## Other roles at Hatch IT

- [Associate Proposal Manager](https://feeny.ai/job/associate-proposal-manager-hatch-it-washington-kgcy26d2v6mn) — Washington, DC
- [Senior Contracts Manager](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-contracts-manager-hatch-it-washington-gcx6fq0sqb5k) — Washington, DC
- [Software Engineer (DEA) - Java Developer & Pega Integration](https://feeny.ai/job/software-engineer-dea-java-developer-pega-integration-hatch-it-arlington-xng5ecvhhtxd) — Arlington, VA
- [System Administrator (Azure)](https://feeny.ai/job/system-administrator-azure-hatch-it-washington-n7b92rhwhbgx) — Washington, DC
- [Mission Director - IC](https://feeny.ai/job/mission-director-ic-hatch-it-reston-ew0dgxwprbg0) — Reston, VA
- [Proposal Specialist](https://feeny.ai/job/proposal-specialist-hatch-it-washington-6atha952pqvv) — Washington, DC
- [Sr. Account Executive](https://feeny.ai/job/sr-account-executive-hatch-it-australian-capital-territory-4a8fb6ryqaq1) — Australian Capital Territory
- [Senior UX Designer](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-ux-designer-hatch-it-reston-va-or-somerville-sh62gsp78rva) — Reston VA OR Somerville, MA
- [Sr. Full Stack Developer](https://feeny.ai/job/sr-full-stack-developer-hatch-it-washington-25eyq6wmwbw2) — Washington, DC
- [Full Stack Developer](https://feeny.ai/job/full-stack-developer-hatch-it-washington-w74m01wjmhea) — Washington, DC